Stargazing Guy

– Socrates (469-399 BC)

This quote appears in the Plato’s Dialogue, Phaedo, around 109e. The Greek text is: τὸ δὲ εἶναι ταὐτόν, ὑπ᾽ ἀσθενείας καὶ βραδυτῆτος οὐχ οἵους τε εἶναι ἡμᾶς διεξελθεῖν ἐπ᾽ ἔσχατον τὸν ἀέρα: ἐπεί, εἴ τις αὐτοῦ ἐπ᾽ ἄκρα ἔλθοι ἢ πτηνὸς γενόμενος ἀνάπτοιτο, κατιδεῖν ἂν ἀνακύψαντα, ὥσπερ ἐνθάδε οἱ ἐκ τῆς θαλάττης ἰχθύες ἀνακύπτοντες ὁρῶσι τὰ ἐνθάδε, οὕτως ἄν τινα καὶ τὰ ἐκεῖ κατιδεῖν, καὶ εἰ ἡ φύσις ἱκανὴ εἴη ἀνασχέσθαι θεωροῦσα, γνῶναι ἂν ὅτι ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν ὁ ἀληθῶς οὐρανὸς καὶ τὸ ἀληθινὸν φῶς.

An exact translation from greek is: “… because of our weakness and slowness we are unable to cross and reach the edge of air (atmosphere). Because if someone reaches its edge or gain wings and fly, he will raise up his head and see, in a way that the fish down here pull up their heads above the sea and see the world around them, shall see the things up there. And if his hold is firm and continues to watch he may perceive that that is the real sky, the real light and the real earth. Our earth down here and the stones and all the places are in decay and is eroded, as those that are inside the sea from the salt…”

This seems to be fairly uniformly attributed to Socrates, and is usually quoted by aviation enthusiasts or space exploration advocates. A number of people have had their doubts about its authenticity because they weren’t sure Socrates would have had a concept of ‘the top the atmosphere’ as such, although there are variants where ‘the clouds’ replaces ‘the atmosphere’.

The basic driving rationales for human space flight (HSF) are rooted in age-old and persisting dreams. Fascination with the idea of people going into the sky for adventures in other worlds goes back to ancient myths.

Whoever said the quote originally despite maybe not having any means to do so, captured the feeling of looking at our home planet from above. This is now called the Overview Effect; A well-known phenomenon many Astronauts experience upon their first view on Earth from Space, evoking a cognitive shift in awareness about the small, fragile rock in the vastness of space we live on. Today, satellites enable humankind to explore the spatial patterns on our Earth, simultaneously capturing a small part of that effect. 

PS: I love coffee. BuyMeACoffee, leave a message with a date and time and we can share it, remotely, at the same time, and think about the Cosmos.

In the meantime, take care of yourself and if you can, someone else, too, because as Adam Smith said, “we naturally desire not only to be loved but to be lovely”.

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Credit for opening image